Planning A Trap (Part 2)

Posted on Thu Jul 11th, 2024 @ 11:57pm by Captain Mikoto Misaka & Breeze & Lieutenant Commander Peter Carter Jr & Lieutenant Commander Lurath, Son of Grogori & Lieutenant Commander Sonak & Commander Eila Juutilainen 'Illu' & Lieutenant James Henderson & Lieutenant JG Feeva Drylo
Edited on on Thu Jul 11th, 2024 @ 11:58pm

2,287 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: The Search
Location: Observation Lounge, Deck 1

Previously on Star Trek Ermiana:

"Then why stop there?" Lurath interjected. Something about what the XO said about the Maquis wouldn't have fighting implements to return to unsettled him. Maybe it was the Klingon in him, but it was also the Starfleet Officer part of him that felt that leaving the Maquis, who weren't even their primary objective, unable to defend themselves against the Cardassians was only leading them to death.

"They still have their weapons, so lets take those as well. Let's take everything they have so when the Cardassian's find this place, assuming they don't already know about it, the Maquis here are as good as dead." Lurath looked around the room and let out a disapproving sigh. "Let's just skip all the unpleasantries and kill them here and now, huh? Because it will be a mercy compared to what the Cardassian's will do to them. I thought we were supposed to be on the Maquis side? Most of there ranks are former Starfleet Officers who are just standing up for what they think is wrong." He paused again and groaned. "When a Klingon, by comparison, seems more compassionate then you know you've done something wrong."

And now the continuation...

Lurath looked over to the Captain and, without skipping a beat, said firmly. "Our orders are to retake the Bismarck and assure the crew's status. We are not here to participate in the Maquis fight or hinder them in any way. Starfleet is here for it's ship and her crew. That's it." He took a second and added. "Should the Captain want to take a few and see if they are willing to offer up information on the Bismarck then I will see to it that it gets done. If you are looking to take prisoners and hinder their ability to fight because you want to show the Maquis that those who betray the uniform will be given no mercy then I remind you that is what the Cardassians would do and, if that's the case, I would ask you release me from my duties."

"I have no intention of waging a war out here Commander!" Mikoto said, her voice slightly raised at her Klingon chief of Security. She let out a long sigh. "Once we finish inventoring the supplies we confiscated Starfleet will arrange they are returned to their rightful owners."

"As for the fighter. We are going to 'borrow' that as bait to lure out the Bismarck." Mikoto looked around at each of their faces.

"Commander Carter. I want you to repair that to full tactical ability, then damage it. Make it look like its been in a firefight and long haul pursuit." Mikoto ordered simply.

"Once we've done that. We'll launch it as bait. Hopefully a Maquis ship being attacked by this ship will bring out the Bismarck." Mikoto said. "They ambushed us before, so it's time to ambush them back."

"Captain if I may ...." Pete said half staggering over to the sideboard and poured himself another cup of coffee.

"Of course." Misaka said shifting in her chair.

"Ma'am, I need to get over on that base. Yes, those supplies are stolen, but we have a more pressing need. Unless you like the prospect of limping back to the nearest dry dock." Pete said taking a swallow from his cup. "Using their fighter as a decoy, that's relatively easy in the best case scenario. Under the current circumstances we'll have to get creative unless you want it to be blatantly obv.... obv..." He yawned hard followed by a hard sneeze. "Obvious. Sorry." Pete said pulling a handkerchief from his back pocket and wiped his nose. "Ma'am at the very least I'm going to need two days of uninterrupted work. Probably 12 hours on the decoy." Pete finished his coffee. "Christ I hope I'm making some sense." He muttered to himself.

"You seem to be..." Misaka said as her eyes followed the Chief Engineer.

"At the very least I'll need two of our shuttles and do some fancy rewiring." Pete said setting this empty cup on the sideboard.

"If I might inerrr ject." Tifang spoke. "This is an obvious ploy. What if the Maquis have a code that signals between Maquis ships and frrrrequency protocols. We mightneed yto see how to take 'Frrriend to ferried with the Bismark orrr maybe get blasted?"?

Feeva piped up. "My people have passage in this airspace. Anyway to disguise the signal as one of ours?" The Vissians were a neutral planet, and while not a part of the FOP, they allowed all sorts to pass in an out of their section, so long as they remained unbothered.

It was at that moment that Mikoto noticed the look on Luraths face. "Commander? You look a little troubled?"

Lurath remained quiet as the others spoke up. Their ideas seemed reasonable, but he still saw the danger of the Cardassian swarm that was currently in the Badlands who wouldn't hesitate to stop any ship no matter the signal. He wanted to slam his hand on he table and call them all incompetent warriors like his father would, putting more lives at risk, without thinking. However, he remained calm inside, trying to think of some strategy they could use. Again, his fathers words came to mind, but this time it wasn't a judgement. More of a tale.

"My father, General Grogori, once told me a tale of a Klingon Captain he knew who found a Romulan Outpost hidden in Klingon Space. His first officer insisted on destroying it and raiding the outpost for information, but the Captain saw something he didn't." Lurath said as he looked around table at the others. "This outpost, similar to what the Ensign suggested, had a means to send hidden messages to Romulan ships or other hidden outposts. The Klingon Empire had no idea of this happened, but the Captain decided to use this communication to his advantage. He ordered his Comm's Officer to send out a message, in Romulan, implying they were close to being detected and requires assistance. The First Officer thought this idea was foolish and would result in no battle. No glory. They'll come. The Captain replied. Romulans would never risk losing everything they collected. They would let their people die, before losing everything they have gathered. They'll come if you tell them its one ship and they haven't been discovered yet."

Lurath let out a slight smile, hanging on the moment of his father telling him this story, as his children hung on every words. "The Comms Officer did as requested and sent the message. And they waited. And waited. And waited. And, sure enough, A Romulan ship decloaked over the outpost and fought with the Captain's ship. The Captain, still on the outpost, ordered the ship to fall back and cloak. Giving the impression the Klingon Bird of Prey fled rather than face down a Romulan Warbird. No sooner than the ship disappeared a message came from the Warbird announcing they would be coming down to retrieve the information that was collected. The Captain then ordered a message be sent back. Information is High Priority. It can only be handed to the Commanding Officer. After a few seconds... the response came. Prepare for Arrival. The Romulan Commander and his escort found themselves face to face with Klingon Warriors prepared to shoot them on sight. As for the Romulan Warbird, just because the Bird of Prey cloaked, it doesn't mean it left. When it decloaked, this time, it was joined by more Klingon Vessels eager for battle and glory."

The Half Klingon looked around the table, before locking on with the Captain. "We do not need to send out a fighter out into a system that is swarming with Cardassians. No matter what signal they carry, the Cardassins wont risk any ship slipping past them. We know, the Maquis, value each others lives. We also know, this Maquis crew, has not hesitated to go to battle with a Cardassian ship. So, let us use this information to our advantage, while taking a page out of a Klingon book. We should look through their communications network and see if they have the same hidden network. If the Bismarck came here, it's registration will be in that system, or they would have sent it to this depot for future reference. We should then use that network and send a message to the Bismarck. Say we are about to be discovered by a Cardassian Ship require assistance. Request evacuation. The danger of sending out a shuttle or fighter is too much to risk the location of the depot being compromised. We adjust the transponder code of the Ermiana to emit a Cardassian signature so they'll see it on sensors. Then, we wait." He looked around the table, then back to the Captain and smiled. "They'll come."

"It would be a much simpler plan than sending out a fighter and risking more lives, even if we deliberately shoot to miss them." Eila agreed, turning to Lurath. "If you are sure of the tactical viability of such a plan, then I will support it as our course of action." She said, turning back to the Captain:

"Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him." Misaka said in response. "That's a line from Sun Tzu's art of war..." she explained to them all. She pondered for a few moments to assimilate the proposed new plan. It did seem a lot safer, simpler and why chase the Maquis when they could get the Maquis to come to them.

"Right." She said. "We'll do it your way Commander." She stated. She looked around at her officers again. She then turned her attention back to Lurath. "This is your plan Commander, how about you take the lead on this."

Lurath was hesitant. He was still dealing with what happened with Lieutenant Ezazzan, so the idea of something happening to another officer only made him more reluctant. It was un-Klingon of him to hesitate over the loss of a fellow officer, even one that did not have the honor of dying in battle, so he was unsure of whether or not he was ready to take on leading others. "Perhaps the First Officer would be better off taking the lead."

Misaka pondered for a brief moment. She was hoping that Lurath would step up to the plate, but she could see that he was still upset... angry? annoyed? Whatever a Klingon feels after nearly losing someone under their command. Eventually she turned to Eila. "Commander, I want you to take down an away team to the Supply Depot Again. Go through their databanks, find out how their communication systems work and if they have access to it." Misaka ordered.

"Whilst we have the Maquis Fighter aboard we might as well look at that too. Its entirely possible that if the Depot doesn't have what we need to contact the Maquis using their own channels, that will." She looked over at Carter. "Since Lieutenant Ezazzan is off duty in critical care. I want you to go over it with a fine toothcomb."

"I'd do it even if the big lizard was here ma'am." Pete said a mild grin on his face. "Jim, can I borrow a pilot for a few hours?" Carter said glancing over at Henderson.

"Sure, Senior Chief Graham hasn't had a chance to stretch his legs since Veridian 3, so I'm sure he would be more than up for it," Henderson replied,

"Understood, Captain:" Eila nodded. "I'll see what I can dig up on their databanks."

"Sonak, Lurath, Henderson. This ship is going to need to be ready for once/if the Maquis show up. We're going to need to look like a Cardassian Ship, at least on sensors. That means changing our transponder and warp signature. We're also going to need to be ready for a potential firefight. Run battle drills and find us the best position to launch our ambush." She told them both. "I'm sure you three can work that out."

"Sure Cap'n, I can work on some non-standard helm patterns, might give us the edge in a tactical situation, maybe change the shield frequencies to match Cardassian Shields. Might even be able to reconfigure the sensors to project the image of a Galor or Kelvin class onto the Maquis Sensors, but I didn't pay much attention in my Science Course at the Academy, so Mr Sonak might be able to tell us if that's possible" Henderson remarked, looking at the Vulcan further up the table, raising an eyebrow.

Finally, she turned her attention to the medical officers. "Right now our best option is to stay here. I'll come down after this meeting and discuss Lieutenant Ezazzan's condition with you. In a more private setting." Misaka said. "For now, ensure sickbay is ready and do your best to ensure that our Chief of Ops makes it through this."

With that said Misaka pushed against the table, pushing her chair backwards on the wheels. She then rose to her feet. "You all have your orders. Dismissed."

Henderson stood up from his chair grabbed his two PADDs, disposed of his cup, and walked out of the briefing room, thinking of some manoeuvres he could use.

Posting by:

Captain Mikoto Misaka
Commanding Officer

Commander Eila Juutilainen 'Illu'
Executive Officer

Lieutenant Commander Peter Carter Jr
Chief Engineer

Lieutenant Commander Lurath, Son of Grogori
Chief Security/Tactical Officer

Lieutenant Commander Sonak
Chief Science Officer

Lieutenant James Henderson
Chief Flight Control Officer

Lieutenant JG Feeva Drylo
Assistant Chief Medical Officer

Breeze
Specialist

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